Latch



Oct. 24, 1950 B. R.TYHIELE 2,527,202

LATCH Original Filed March 27, 1944 INVENTOR. v F Y BEER 0&9 E. mzazz.

Patented Oct. 24, 1950 LATCH Berthold R. Thiele, Ripon, Wis., assignor to E. R. Wagner Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Original application March 27, 1944, Serial No. 528,284, nowPatent No. 2,423,352, dated July .1946, Serial No. 681,573

This invention relates to improvements in latches for boxes or cases and the like, and par.- ticularly to latches in which the latch bolt is positively held in either its engaged or disengaged positions.

One object of the invention is to provide a latch in which both a pressing and a turning action are necessar to move the bolt from enfgaged to disengaged'position, or vice versa.

Another object of the invention is to provide eaten in which the bolt is held either in engaged or disengaged position unless pressure is exerted on the bolt or its associated parts before '4 Claims. (01; zip-1cm 'a turning force is applied to rotate the bolt from one position to the other position thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a 'latch'inwhich a locking means positively holds .the bolt either in engaged or disengaged position until the locking means is released from the bolt by pressure before th bolt is turned from one position to the other position thereof; Another object of the invention is to provide a latch whichis extremely simple and compact in construction, reliable and effective in operation, attractive in appearance, susceptible of economical manufacture, and which may be readily applied to a box or case and the like. Objects and advantages other than those above set forth will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one form of the latch of the present invention applied to a fragment of a box or case; A v a Fig. 2 is an enlargedsectional-view taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top View of the base of the housing in the present form of the invention for enclosin'gthe latch bolt;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of'the latch" bolt in the present form of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a section of the latch bolt taken on the plane of the line V-V of Fig. 4;

Fig, 6 isa front elevation of the locking bar cooperating with the latch bolt; and

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the plane of line VII--VII of Fig. 6.

This application is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 528,284, filed. March 27, 1944, and issued July 1, 1947 as Patent No. 2,423,352.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, 6t designates a keeper casing to be engaged by a latch bolt 6i received and retained in a, housing generally designated 52. The bolt housing includes a base 65 with prongs 66 formed 'housing to a box or case.

with a circular space substantially defined by Divided and this application July 5,

. g 2 froln'the body of the base for securing the bolt The base is formed Walls 67 and 63, the wall 61 having a straight line extension 69. Portions of the periphery of the base are formed with flanges indicated at IE! to provide for the prongs 66 and forother purposes.

A plurality of pairs of guides 12 are formed from the base Within the circular space and extend therefrom a slightly greaterv distance than the distance between the body of the base and a, cover 15 for the base. The guides forming each pair are spaced the same distance from each other and the several pairs of guides are preferably spaced approximately midway between the center and the periphery of the circular base space. The housing cover 15 has an opening 63 therethrough and is formed with flanges 16 coacting with the housing base flanges 10 for securing the cover portion of the housing to the base portion thereof.

The latch bolt 6| has a body 8| shown as being substantially cylindrical and provided with an external peripheral flange 82 aboutone end of the body, which flange has an extension or nose 83 formed as a hook for engaging the casing 60. The other end of the bolt body 84 is closedexcept for an opening 34 surrounded by a flange 85. The cylindrical surface of the bolt body is fluted as shown, knurled or otherwise formed, to provide for secure gripping of the surface by the fingers of the user. A plurality of pairsof notches 83 and 89 are cut into the peripheral bolt flange 82 on diameters of the bolt body for receiving a locking bar, generally desig nated 90, which is of such size as to be limited and guided in its movements by the pair of guides 12. The locking bar has a U-shaped portion 9| on which is mounted a button 92 having a collar 94' and which provides a seat for one end of a helical spring 96 seated at the other end thereof o the bolt housing base 65.

When the bolt housing and bolt are assembled, the body 3| of the bolt extends through the opening in the housing cover 15. The locking bar extends between the several pairs of guides 12 and the button 92 extends through the opening 84 in the bolt body. The locking bar is held in one of the pairs of notches 88 or 89 by the spring 96 which presses the collar 92 against the bolt flange 82 and the pressure of the spring also holds the peripheral flange 82 of the bolt against the housing cover 15. When the casing and the bolt 1 are in the'engaged position, as indicated in Fig. 1,

the locking bar seats in the bolt notches 88 and prevents disengagement of the casing and the bolt unless a predetermined sequence of actions is performed by the user. If pressure is put on the button 92, the bar 90 is forced out of the notches 88 against the action of the spring 96 and if the bar is held in that position the bolt may be rotated counterclockwise to disengage from the casing 60. If rotation of the bolt is continued until the latch extension 83 stops against the housing base por-- tion 69, the bolt notches 89 will be in position to receive the locking bar upon release of pressure thereon and the bar will then hold the bolt in its unlatched position. To again latch the bolt the locking bar 90 must be released from notches 89 and must be held out of notching position until the bolt 6! has been rotated clockwise to engage the hook 83 with the casing 60 whereupon release of the pressure on the locking barallows the spring 96 to reseat the bar in the notches 88.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a latch which has means for positively holding the latch bolt either engaged with or disengaged from the keeper casing unless a given sequence of actions is performed. Accidental movement of the bolt from .either engaged or disengaged position is unlikely because of the sequence of pressing, holding, and rotating actions which are required to move the bolt from one position to the other position thereof.

The holding or locking means includes the locking bar movable in its guides and normally held in the locking plane by the spring acting on the bar. The operating means includes both the bolt handle and the locking bar actuating button.

The structure of the latch bolt and its housing is especially simple and rugged and the parts are so designed as to cooperate in forming a unit in which assembly of the parts automatically produces proper positioning for reliable operation and holds theparts in such position. The keeper casing may be provided with a key-operated looking bar engageable with a notch on the bolt nose, merely as an additional feature without change in the other portions of the latch, thus providing a combined latch and lock retaining all of the advantages of the present structure with the additional function of locking.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a latch, a housing having an opening through one wall thereof, said housing having an opposite wall with a plurality of guides projecting therefrom toward said opening and placed to lie within the extension of the peripheral confines of said opening, a latch bolt mounted in the housing and having a body portion extending through said opening for movement therein, said bolt having a plurality of notches on its inner end adapted to receive a locking bar, a locking bar in said housing, said bar being held against rotation by said guides and guided for movement toward and away from said bolt and engageable with said notches for holding the bolt in either locked or unlocked positions in the housing, and spring means acting between said bar and said opposite wall for urging the bolt and the locking bar toward the other wall of said housing.

2. A latch comprising a latch bolt adapted to engage with a keeper casing, said bolt having a plurality of notches in its under surface, a latch bolt housing in which said bolt is operatively mounted with its under surface spaced from a wall ofsaid housing, a plurality of guides formed on said wall, a locking bar engageable in said notches and positioned between said bolt and said wall so as to be controlled in its movement by said guides, and a spring positioned between said bar and said wall for causing said bar to automatically lock said bolt in open and closed position, said bar being movable out of engagement with said notches against the pressure of said spring.

3. In a latch, a housing having opposite walls, an opening through one of said walls, a plurality of pairs of guides formed in the other wall and extending into said opening for guiding a locking bar, a latch bolt mounted in thehousing and having a handle forming body portion extending through said opening, said latch bolt having .a flange portion for retaining said bolt in said housing, a plurality of pairs of diametrically positioned notches in said flange and the adjacent portion of said bolt body, a locking barmounted in said guides and movable into and out of engagement with said notches, and a spring urging said locking bar toward said bolt and maintaining the latter in contact with said first mentioned wall.

4. A latch as claimed in claim 3 in which the locking bar has a button portion extending through a central opening in said bolt body whereby said locking bar may be depressed to disengage from said notches.

BERTHOLD R. THIELE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 324,201 Whittingham Aug. 11, 1885 463,483 Clark Nov. 17, 1891 1,775,574 Schrader Sept. 9, 1930 

